Pretty "meh". These new mixes were the draw on the upcoming box set, but I'm more inclined to think I already have everything of value. I hope the shows are good, but right now there's no improvement on the original. Bono's new vocals just sound like going through the motions, lacking all of the passion of the original. It's weird to hear him sound like he's singing a cover version of their own song.

So how are we to interpret Bono's recent comment: "I used to write songs that I couldn't sing. And sometimes that was OK because the strains of the notes I couldn't reach was part of the drama, but occasionally they would really just wreck the next show. So I just left 'Red Hill Mining Town' off. But since then, I sing a bit better -- or at least I've learned how to sing."So on this tour will he sing it differently than the album version, but better?

I agree that he is more skilled as a singer, but...at some point, we are talking about physical ability and how it is impacted by time. If Michael Jordan told you he's spent the last ten years fine tuning his game and was going to come back to the NBA, you'd laugh. Have you seen recent LIVE evidence that he could hit that note? Or hit it more than one out of thirty attempts?

In terms of his range and hitting the high notes of that song, I would agree. But I also agree with what Bono says about being a better singer now. Overall he is a bettter singer. So we will have to wait for the tour to know for sure.

Do you think that he sang it poorly? How well would he have sang it in 1987? No one expected him to sing to the high ranges of this song. In fact, the difficulty of the song is a big reason why they have never performed it live.That being said, I wasn't thrilled with the organ replacing the guitar. I'd like to hear them try it closer to the album version.

Do you think that he sang it poorly? How well would he have sang it in 1987? No one expected him to sing to the high ranges of this song. In fact, the difficulty of the song is a big reason why they have never performed it live.That being said, I wasn't thrilled with the organ replacing the guitar. I'd like to hear them try it closer to the album version.

Do you think that he sang it poorly? How well would he have sang it in 1987? No one expected him to sing to the high ranges of this song. In fact, the difficulty of the song is a big reason why they have never performed it live.That being said, I wasn't thrilled with the organ replacing the guitar. I'd like to hear them try it closer to the album version.

This is moving the goal posts. The argument wasn't "Well, it kind of sounds ok, considering". The argument was that he would have been lucky to hit those notes in 1987, and there was absolutely no way he could sing that song live now. But then he's doing interviews saying that he couldn't do it back then, but can do it now because he's a better singer*. I like the guy's confidence, but you've got to be kidding me. I'm not going to play Emperor's New Clothes and pretend it was a great performance. He can't sing that song well, and they had to change it so that he could sing it at all. It would be one thing if he were saying "Yeah, this one is going to be rough, but I said I'd do the whole album, so I'm doing the whole album", but that's not what he was saying. He was saying he could do it BETTER than he could have done it in 1987. That's ridiculous.

*For the record, I do think he is more skilled at using his voice, but the physical reality is that the "raw material" of his voice has deteriorated. He is increasingly trying to do more with less, which works well a lot of the time. But there are situations where it doesn't, and this is one of them. RHMT is not a game of skill; it is brute force, and he doesn't have it the way he did when he wrote that song.

As I stated in my previous comment, I don't think there were many fans expecting him to hit all of the high notes of that song live as it is sung on the album. We all knew they would change it. So what I'm hearing now is that his performance of the verses was also below expectations.

are we really saying that he WOULDN'T have nailed the falsetto on Lovetown or ZooTV had this song made an appearance on those tours? he would have killed it. i haven't heard the live version and wont until my show in a week and a half.

To be honest the RHMT video wasn't that bad. This was the era when Duran Duran were dressing as'Wild Boys' and having alien fish leaping out of pools.

The RHMT video is a bit serious. I've always considered it an upbeat song best listened to on a sunny day. But if the song is about miners....

At the time U2 were considered a very serious band. The 'New Years Day', Pride & WOWY videos were hardly a bundle of laughs. So they made more jovial videos for Streets & ISHFWILF.

Releasing RHMT as a single would have meant playing it live every night for a long world tour. Not a good idea for Bono's voice.

I don't think it was held back for being over the top in a "they're dressed crazy" kind of way, but the idea of real coal miners out of work watching millionaires pretend (kinda sorta) to be coal miners in their video seemed distasteful.

To be honest the RHMT video wasn't that bad. This was the era when Duran Duran were dressing as'Wild Boys' and having alien fish leaping out of pools.

The RHMT video is a bit serious. I've always considered it an upbeat song best listened to on a sunny day. But if the song is about miners....

At the time U2 were considered a very serious band. The 'New Years Day', Pride & WOWY videos were hardly a bundle of laughs. So they made more jovial videos for Streets & ISHFWILF.

Releasing RHMT as a single would have meant playing it live every night for a long world tour. Not a good idea for Bono's voice.

I don't think it was held back for being over the top in a "they're dressed crazy" kind of way, but the idea of real coal miners out of work watching millionaires pretend (kinda sorta) to be coal miners in their video seemed distasteful.

Thought miners would be pleased that their working conditions were highlighted.

Whether it was released as a single or not, RHMT is one of the strongest songs on TJT. Which U2 are well aware of. But was hardly played on the 87 tour.

It can only be because Bono could not sing it live. Thought he would have realised this while making the album & before making a video for it.

To be honest the RHMT video wasn't that bad. This was the era when Duran Duran were dressing as'Wild Boys' and having alien fish leaping out of pools.

The RHMT video is a bit serious. I've always considered it an upbeat song best listened to on a sunny day. But if the song is about miners....

At the time U2 were considered a very serious band. The 'New Years Day', Pride & WOWY videos were hardly a bundle of laughs. So they made more jovial videos for Streets & ISHFWILF.

Releasing RHMT as a single would have meant playing it live every night for a long world tour. Not a good idea for Bono's voice.

I don't think it was held back for being over the top in a "they're dressed crazy" kind of way, but the idea of real coal miners out of work watching millionaires pretend (kinda sorta) to be coal miners in their video seemed distasteful.

Thought miners would be pleased that their working conditions were highlighted.

Whether it was released as a single or not, RHMT is one of the strongest songs on TJT. Which U2 are well aware of. But was hardly played on the 87 tour.

It can only be because Bono could not sing it live. Thought he would have realised this while making the album & before making a video for it.

I'm not discounting the part where he couldn't sing it live, but there was also a concern that the video would prompt a bit of a "who the hell do these guys think they are" backlash. What's the term on the East side of the Atlantic? "Naff" or something like that?

As I stated in my previous comment, I don't think there were many fans expecting him to hit all of the high notes of that song live as it is sung on the album. We all knew they would change it. So what I'm hearing now is that his performance of the verses was also below expectations.

All of Bono's singing is below expectations. Well that may be an exaggeration, but what is obvious is that he is very sloppy in his vocal delivery live these days. It's hard to really notice when you're there since it's so loud and there are lots of distractions. But if you take the time to actually listen to his vocals from a performance perspective, he's mostly just shouting or talking the lines with little regard to actually hitting the notes.

I realize that this is A-OK for most people. But I find it frustrating. I want to hear him hit that falsetto note in Pride ("a shot rings out in the Memphis sky-y") but he rarely even tries.

As I stated in my previous comment, I don't think there were many fans expecting him to hit all of the high notes of that song live as it is sung on the album. We all knew they would change it. So what I'm hearing now is that his performance of the verses was also below expectations.

All of Bono singing is below expectations. Well that may be an exaggeration, but what is obvious is that he is very sloppy in his vocal delivery live these days. It's hard to really notice when you're there since it's so loud and there are lots of distractions. But if you take the time to actually listen to his vocals from a performance perspective, he's mostly just shouting or talking the lines with little regard to actually hitting the notes.

I realize that this is A-OK for most people. But I find it frustrating. I want to hear him hit that falsetto note in Pride ("a shot rings out in the Memphis sky-y") but he rarely even tries.

Do we think Edge is playing more sloppily than before? Or Adam, or Larry? Or is it just Bono whose let his standards drop? When did this sloppiness creep into his singing? This tour (we're only a few dates in), SOI, 360?

I am not a professional singer so I really can't judge the skill of his singing, but from what I can hear as a fan of the music, Bono is doing the best he can with the voice he's got, aged 57, and it sounds good to me. I am surprised how often people on this forum comment that he lacks the "power" he had 30 years ago, or can't hit the notes he did then, as surely none of us expect him to have super-human powers.

As I stated in my previous comment, I don't think there were many fans expecting him to hit all of the high notes of that song live as it is sung on the album. We all knew they would change it. So what I'm hearing now is that his performance of the verses was also below expectations.

All of Bono singing is below expectations. Well that may be an exaggeration, but what is obvious is that he is very sloppy in his vocal delivery live these days. It's hard to really notice when you're there since it's so loud and there are lots of distractions. But if you take the time to actually listen to his vocals from a performance perspective, he's mostly just shouting or talking the lines with little regard to actually hitting the notes.

I realize that this is A-OK for most people. But I find it frustrating. I want to hear him hit that falsetto note in Pride ("a shot rings out in the Memphis sky-y") but he rarely even tries.

Do we think Edge is playing more sloppily than before? Or Adam, or Larry? Or is it just Bono whose let his standards drop? When did this sloppiness creep into his singing? This tour (we're only a few dates in), SOI, 360?

I am not a professional singer so I really can't judge the skill of his singing, but from what I can hear as a fan of the music, Bono is doing the best he can with the voice he's got, aged 57, and it sounds good to me. I am surprised how often people on this forum comment that he lacks the "power" he had 30 years ago, or can't hit the notes he did then, as surely none of us expect him to have super-human powers.

I think we are talking about two different things. The physical side due to age/smoking/etc isn't something I would hold against him. I think what's being talked about here is how he has in recent years increasingly performed songs as if he was just getting through a rehearsal. It's this thing where he's more speaking the lyrics than singing. An uncharitable way to describe it would be "half-assing". Whenever you see a documentary about the band, you always hear them talk about how they can't do other peoples' songs, how they didn't have the traditional skills, but how they had "it", or "passion", or whatever. When Bono does that talk-singing thing, it seems like he doesn't care, and is just trying to check off the next song in the set list. They are not a band that can get away with that. He himself is always saying how he can't pull it off unless he really gets inside the songs and feels it. I get the sense that he's not feeling it a lot more than he used to.